Know thy enemy: CC Sabathia

After signing that unbelievably lucrative long-term deal, Sabathia is having his worse season since 2005 and has really not lived up to the billing in NY. His 3.86 ERA and 3.72 FIP are both good, but more was expected for someone who is being paid like a pitcher who should be a Cy Young candidate every year. In the first year in his deal, that has not happened.

His K/9 ratio of 6.66 is his lowest since 2004 and his BB/9 ratio of 2.66 is his worst since 2005. That is obviously not a good sign. On the other hand, his WHIP is right in line with what it has been the last 3 years and his BABIP and LOB % are at a career low. If both of those revert back to normal, then his numbers should begin to look a lot better.

His GB/FB ratio is 1.08, but his career average is 1.25. He is a 3 pitch-pitcher and all of his pitches qualify as plus pitches. He relies on his slider and changeup for nearly 40% of his pitches. His fastball is then used nearly 60% of the time at an average velocity of 94.1 MPH. Historically, his slider and changeup have been absoltuely sick pitches. His slider has not been as effective as it has been in the past but his changeup has been the 3rd best changeup in baseball this year, according to Fan Graphs. If his slider returns to what it once was and his BABIP and LOB % revert to his career norms and/or the league average, then he could be a candidate for a real strong second half and is capable of completely shutting down the Tigers today.

Raburn, Granderson, Santiago, Thames, Polanco, Inge and Ordonez have all had at least 10 AB's against him. Of these, Thames, Polanco and Ordonez have an OPS all above .800 against him. In just 6 at bats against Sabathia, Miguel Cabrera has 4 hits, a HR, 6 RBI and a 1.833 OPS.